Band Camp
by LIFE as a SHIRT
Summary: Sara and Nick are happily married. Their teenage daughter goes to 'sophistcated band camp' in Santa Cruz and her behavior changes. Find out what happens!
1. Author's Note

**AUTHORS NOTE**

* * *

This is not my fan fiction. It's a spin-off of my close friend's. LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: I asked permission from my friend to use this concept, and she actually got excited that I would do this. Sorry if that offends you in some way. I got tired of waiting for her to write more, and I came up with this.

Isn't that what fan fiction is all about though?

It has all the same characters. It's a little Snickers-y. There's some original characters, none of my own personal creation, but with some minor details by me.

Before you read this, I strongly suggest you go read 'One Month' by BIGGERimagination. It's amazing. There are six chapters, but once you read the first one, you can't stop yourself, and before you know it you've read all six.

Check it out.

ENJOYSSS!

xxoo

LIFE as a SHIRT


	2. Pilot

**A/N: **Once again: THIS ISN'T MY OWN CREATION.  
Go read 'One Month' by BIGGERimagination.  
I also do not own any products, characters or other mediums referenced in said chapter.

* * *

Nick's POV

One more week. That's all that was left. One more week of no screaming teenager. One more week of leaving for a double shift without smelling burning toaster waffles. One more week of the washing machine being free of brightly colored unmentionables.

Thinking back, these last three weeks _have_ actually been a little quiet.

But then again, Archie and Greg have both been gone from the lab, so it's been a little peaceful there, without the music blaring from the tech lab, and without melted crayons sticking to the insides of the microwave in the break room.

Now that I think of it, it's been a little quiet there, too.

Sara keeps smelling the most random things. Her pregnancy is getting to a weird point. She craves the most random things at the most random times of day. Two nights ago at four thirty seven in the morning, I had to go out and buy a case of sour gummy worms because she wouldn't stop yelling at me.

"Nick," said Grissom, not looking up from some random bug he was examining with his square rimmed glasses. "Did you find anymore information on the Walker file?"

"Uh, I found some old cassette tapes, but I have to wait until Archie gets back from Santa Cruz," I said, holding up the five gallon trash bag full of cassettes.

"Very nice, Nick," he said, glancing up. I heard some glass breaking in the break room and cricked my neck looking behind me.

"God _dammit_! NICK!" It was Sara. I skidded into the break room and saw her standing there holding an empty cup of coffee and a broken coffee pot. She looked so cute, standing there with that crease in her forehead and the slight bump in her stomach.

"I. Need. Coffee." She said each syllable slowly and with force.

"I'm on it," I said, walking backwards out of the break room, so as not to be attacked from behind.

It's going to be a very long week.

Alena's POV

I was just laying there. In my camp bed. iPod turned up so loud that you couldn't have blown an air horn in my ear to get my attention. You couldn't have blown _anything_ to get my attention. I knew he was out there. I knew he was with his guitar, playing the song he always did, and I knew that Greg was sitting bolt upright in his bed looking over, and as soon as I opened the cabin door he would be right there to close it.

His song came on my iPod. The slow version, like he always played outside my room. _You have stolen my heart_. I could picture his shitty beat up vans sunk halfway into the dry sand. I could imagine his baggy jeans, the only thing I accepted besides skinny jeans. I could see his acoustic guitar, vibrating ever so slightly against his torso as he strummed the chords to my favorite song.

I quickly switched the song. I could feel tears pricking at my eyes as I thought about him. Tonight would make the fourth night this week. And it was Thursday. He skipped Monday. He was always tired on Mondays. 'Prom With Jessie' blared into my ears. I turned down the volume so that I could hear a few of his higher chords outside. A single tear rolled down my cheek and I wiped it away.

Jumping out of bed, I grabbed a piece of paper and a purple sharpie. I ripped of the cap and it flew out of my hands, hitting Molly in the nose. She muttered "not now, Greg. I'm sleeping," and rolled over in her sleep. The cap skidded away, but I didn't bother to look for it. I scribbled on the paper:

_Caleb,_

_He's watching._

_I'll see you tomorrow morning._

_Love Len._

I folded it and slid it under the door and sat cross-legged on the cold concrete floor, awaiting his reply. I heard a rustling and the same piece of paper came sliding under the door again.

_Alena,_

_I'm not finished with the song yet._

_So now I have to start over._

_Love you more than air,_

_Caleb._

Great. More agony. It took so much willpower not to just open the door and tackle him. But Greg hadn't told mom and dad about Caleb yet, and if I wanted to keep it that way, I couldn't open that door. Greg had even gotten to the point when he had called my dad and had almost told him.

"Hey, Nick! How are you? Alena's fine. You know, she had an adventure recently! You'd love to hear it!" That was where I got on my knees, tugging at his jeans and pleading to god that he wouldn't tell my dad. He would have Caleb castrated in the name of the law.

I heard a frantic knock on the door. _Oh shit_. I sprinted back to my bed and pulled my sleeping bag up over my legs just as the door slammed open and Greg was standing in the now-splintered door jam, holding a timid looking Caleb by the stretchy collar of his Panic! At the Disco shirt. It's a collectors item now, because while we've been at camp, Panic has decided to drop the '!'. Depressing, I know.

"Greg!" screamed Molly, jumping up out of bed. "How have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you all –"

"Not now, Molly," he said, not looking up from his death glare at me. I glanced at Caleb, and couldn't suppress my smile. His was contagious, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Shut up, Alena," said Greg, letting go of Caleb's collar, looking stressed, and running a hand through his spiked hair. "Do you have any idea what your father would do to me? I wouldn't be able to have any more kids!"

I nodded, then did a double take. "Any_more_? You don't have kids!" I said.

Greg grinned sheepishly.

"Wow, Greg! What a stud!" said Kaylee. "Greg. How about this. You go home to Lily in the Nirvana cabin. We'll stay here, and Caleb will go do his thing and leave, and no one loses anything that would prevent them from leading a long and fulfilling life."

"Kaylee, I can't have them anywhere near each other at night."

"Come on," she said softly. "Go talk to your wife's stomach. Your offspring is in there right now, and you're over here preventing the production of more."

"KAYLEE!" I groaned.

"Fine. I'm going to escort Caleb back to his cabin, and then I'm going to get some whipped cream and go back to my cabin."

"Oh good god," I said, sitting back down on my bed and putting my head in my hand. I looked up to see Caleb being escorted away by an angry but still pleased looking Greg. I saw him give me the slightest of winks.

"Alena, I don't want you anywhere near him for the rest of this week. Understood?" said Greg, still walking away and facing his back to the cabin.

I rolled my eyes and muttered an "understood".

This was going to be a long week.

Sara's POV

Sitting on the couch. All I can think about is maple bars. Light, flaky doughnuts. How the maple topping makes those funny crinkles when you break it in half. My mouth might be open, and I _might_ be drooling. Where was Nick?

"NICK! I NEED DOUGHNUTS!" I yelled through the quiet house. I heard the chair rolling in the computer room upstairs and feet coming downstairs.

"I'm on it, Sar," he said, grabbing his coat off the hook by the door. It was raining outside, and Nick had grabbed the keys to the Prius.

Alena's POV

Because I can't go to Caleb's acoustic classes, I now have an hour to sit around an do nothing. Molly decided to sit with me and we played MASH. We wrote the same guy three times, I wrote Caleb, she wrote Greg.

She really said nothing besides "Greg is so gorgeous", in different variations and forms. I had a feeling she would keep doing this until Greg talked to her again.

This was going to be a horribly long week.

Sara's POV

I may have been sitting here for several hours. I'm still craving maple bars, and there's no sign of Nick anywhere. I flipped open my phone and held down the number nine. I heard it ring for several seconds and then Nick answered.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice cracked.

"Nick? Where the _hell_ are you?"

"Sara, the Prius broke down. I'm on the side of the freeway waiting for triple A to show up, I'm soaking wet, and, no, I still haven't gotten you a maple bar."

I groaned and got up off the couch. "I'll get one myself. Where are the keys to the Denali?"

"They should be by the door, otherwise, I don't know where they are."

"I can't find them," I said, bending down to look under the cabinet by the door.

"Well, I have _no_ idea, Sara. I have to go, the tow truck is here. I'll be home soon." He paused. "I love you Sara. Really. More than I think you'll ever know."

"I love you, too, Nick." I closed my phone and sat on the floor. I put my head in my hands and cried. The keys to the Denali were sitting in a pile of paper towels, used batteries and shredded construction paper.

This was going to be a long week.

A long week without maple bars.


	3. August

**AN:** There was some confusion earlier about this story. My friend, BIGGERimagination, gave me permission to write this fanfic. Plagiarism is stealing. Stealing is taking things against someone's knowledge or approval. I have both. Therefore, this is neither.

chillax, man.

* * *

Alena's POV

Well, this is it. We leave tomorrow. My stuff is all packed, and our cabin looks a little sad without all the shit strewn all around the floor. Kaylee and Molly are just laying on their beds, playing their guitars and basses respectively. Molly looked particularly distraught.

"You okay, Molly?" I asked, pacing around the middle of the room.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said, playing a new bass line I've never heard before. She's getting better at bass. She only got it last Christmas. I got my guitar at the same time, but I got lessons right away. I hate to say it, but I was better than her. And Kaylee. Oh man. She's a genius. Better than both of us put together. But then again, she's been playing guitar for almost six years. She's had the same shitty fender for that long, too.

"Well," she said, after a couple seconds of silence. "I'm not exactly fine."

I looked inquiringly at her. _She's probably just talking about Greg, or something stupid like that,_ I thought to myself.

"What's shakin', Bacon?" asked Kaylee from her bed, fingers strumming the strings on her guitar.

"Uh, it's not a big deal or anything, but…" she mumbled something that we couldn't hear.

"Molls. You have to actually talk when you talk," said Lindsey, who was tapping her fingers on the side of her bed.

"Okay. But, Len, you have to promise not to get mad at me, okay?" she said, looking at me pleadingly.

"Not anymore," I said, stopping. "What did you do this time?"

"I _may_ have let it slip to my mom that you…met … Caleb." She hung her head, obviously desperate not to make eye contact with me.

"You _WHAT?!_" I screamed. Thoughts raced through my mind. Would her mom tell my mom? Probably. We had this running joke that our moms were, like, in love with each other.

Fuck.

What if she told my dad.

I'm going to die.

"I'm so sorry Lenna! I didn't realize it! You know how I am! If I know a secret, everyone knows it. I'm sorry. Maybe she hasn't told your dad yet.

"Yeah. And maybe Greg will walk in right now and ask to have sex with you," I said. Immediately I regretted saying it. Before it was even out of my mouth, I regretted it. I watched Molly's face crumple and she slumped her shoulders a little.

Someone flung the door open and Greg walked in, looking at Molly. I almost shitted my pants.

"Molly! What the _hell_ did you do?" he asked. Molly backed up a couple feet and stumbled as she hit the edge of her bed.

"I didn't do _anything!_" she yelled back. I could see her eyes glazing over with tears. Kaylee and Lindsay glanced at each other. I knew what they were thinking. Molly didn't deserve that. But we all knew that she would yell her way out of a situation, even if she felt like dying.

"You told someone… You told someone about _them_," said Greg in a whisper-yell, pointing at me. I smirked a little. We were 'them' now. That couple that's so well known, they just become 'them'.

Sweet.

"I don't need this, right now," she mumbled putting her head in her hands. She looked up at Greg in a calm voice that still shook unsteadily, as though she was restraining herself. "yes. I told my mom. Yes, I'm pretty sure that she told Alena's mom. And, yes, I'm also pretty sure she told Nick." I noticed that she didn't say 'Alena's dad', she said 'Nick'.

"Molly. I just got a call from Sara. She didn't tell Nick. But she said to tell Alena that…" he paused and looked at me. A pained look came on his face. "She said to use a condom."

"YES! Oh, my mom is the _best_!" I said, grabbing a backpack off my bed.

"Where do you think you're going, Alena?" asked Greg, putting a hand out, like he was going to stop me.

"I'm going to see Caleb. And you _can't_ stop me, so put that away," I said, pushing his hand down by his side. He looked confused, like too much had happened too fast.

"Okay. At least let me get back to my cabin so I can say I don't know what happened." He turned to leave, and Molly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. Greg paused at he passed her. He wiped a tear off her cheek and said "That shirt looks nice on you, Molly," and walked away.

After he left, we all sighed collectively, like we were all holding our breath.

"For a second, Molly, I totally thought Greg was gonna come and ask to do you," said Kaylee, breaking the silence.

I jumped off my bed and grabbed my backpack. "It's been long enough. The acoustic class is still on, right?"

"I think so, but—" I cut Lindsay off.

"See you later, guys," I said, dashing out of the room towards the north beach.


	4. Still August

**AN: **Once again, I urge you to read BIGGERimagination's 'One Month' if you have no idea what's going on.  
If you can guess the two references in here  
I'll give you a gold star.

* * *

Nick's POV

Sara's going in for her first ultrasound today. She woke up this morning and came down to the kitchen. She looked so adorable standing there with her hair defying gravity, rubbing her stomach and yawning. She walked over to me and hugged me, putting her feet on mine and we danced in the kitchen without saying a word.

It made me think about the times we had before Alena came along. I love my daughter, don't get me wrong. But we used to have so much fun. We'd stay up until four in the morning. We'd take walks in the strip. We'd go on vacations in California. There was that time we went skiing in Colorado.

"The Denali needs more gas," she whispered sensually to me. "And the alternator was acting funny."

I laughed, looking up. "You know it turns me on when you talk cars."

She glared at me, giving me a stink eye, and then dived towards the sink. Once she was done puking, she held her hand over her nose and said "Do you sbell that? Oh, god! Is there any boldy bread adywhere?"

I laughed. "You get pregnant and you're just a nose, Sara." She play punched me on the shoulder.

"I have to go to my ultrasound. Can you pick up Alena from the airport?" she asked, rumpling her hair up.

"I thought Greg and Lily were going to drop the girls off."

"Oh. Okay. Well, then do you want to come with me?" she asked. I lifted my hand to the back of my head and looked around.

"Sure." She came back over and hugged my midsection.

"Are you sure you showered this morning?"

Alena's POV

"Fuck," I said, getting up and pulling a cami on over my bare torso. I was conveniently located in Caleb's bed. He was walking around the room in boxers, packing all of his things in his duffle bag. I pulled a pair of underwear on and then a pair of red skinny jeans.

"Hey," he said, his voice low and sensual.

"Hi," I said, preoccupied with looking for my shirt. "Have you seen my Panic! Tee shirt?" I asked.

He looked around, but then shrugged and said "Nope. Wanna borrow a sweatshirt?" he threw one over to me and I caught it, still sitting on the bed. I pulled it on over my head and looked at it. It had the Dharma logo on the front. This boy could not get anymore perfect. I thought the hair, and the shoes, and the music was enough. But he likes Lost, too? Oh man.

"I should go. I have to go finish packing," I said, nodding my head towards the Queen cabin.

"Isn't it normally the guy that makes excuses?" he asked, walking over and wrapping his arms around my waist, our hips touching.

"You're not just a 'guy', Caleb. You're much more than that," I said, and I pulled away from him, walking out the door. I walked into the Queen cabin and was greeted by three girls, all jumping off their beds and rushing over.

"Holy shit-balls, Alena! You _slept _with him?!" screamed Molly. "I mean, seriously. You had to. Why else wouldn't you have come back afterwards. I never thought you'd be the first of us to lose it."

"Len. You smell like sex."

"Thanks, Kaylee," I said, pushing through them all to go to my bunk.

"Alena. Seriously. What happened?" asked Lindsay.

I looked at the three of them, their faces all shining brightly and everything, and I couldn't hold it in. I had to tell them. We can't keep secrets. "Well, I left yesterday to go see him at his acoustic class. And when I go there, he looked so fucking adorable. He was teaching some of the younger kids Good Riddance, you know, by Green Day. Which, as you guys know, makes my heart melt."

"Yeah. You made me play it until my fingers bled," said Kaylee sarcastically.

"Well, he came over to me, and gave me a hug, and… well.. you know. Things progressed."

"I hate you," said Molly poutily, sitting back on her bed.

"It wasn't really that great," I lied. "He might have cried halfway through." We all laughed, and then Archie opened the door while knocking.

Let me just make this known. Knocking while you open the door is just as much of an invasion of privacy as plain opening the door.

"We all could have been _naked_, Archie!" said Lindsay, laughing and glancing towards me.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you all that all of us set for Vegas are leaving in three hours, so say your goodbyes, everyone. And I'd be scared for your sanity if all four of you were naked at Band Camp. That's a little too weird for fourteen and fifteen year olds."

The cabin was quiet for a few seconds. Then all four of us shouted "POWER RANGER!" and then fell into a fit of giggles.

The cabin got quiet again, and I sat on my bed.

Three hours. That's all I had left here. This past month was probably the best month of my life, and for mainly one reason. And that reason could probably come to Vegas twice a month tops.

I hopped off my bed and hastily threw things into my bag. No one in the cabin saw the tears streaming down my face.

Sara's POV

"Well, Mrs. Stokes, your baby is as healthy as can be," said the doctor to me heartily. "You should be giving birth around February 28th. Would you like to know the sex?"

"Not yet. I want to wait until my daughter comes home from camp."

"How sweet. What kind of camp?" she asked.

"Sophisticated Modern Band Camp. It's in Santa Cruz," I replied. I pushed myself up off the paper-coated hospital bed. "Thanks Doctor Bennet. When should I come back in?"

"The receptionist will inform you when you should make your appointment." She opened the door for me. Nick came over and walked with me over to the receptionist in the waiting room.

"Did you find out the gender?" he asked, concernedly.

"I'm waiting until Len gets back," I said, wiping my stomach free of ultrasound gel. I shook off my hand, which was now covered in goopy bluish green stuff.

"Are you ready for this?" Nick asked.

I paused to think of an appropriate response. When I failed to think of anything worthwhile, I just replied with a "Yes."

I looked up at Nick. "Are you?"

"More than anything.


	5. September

**AN: **Well, this makes for four chapters in one day, my personal record.  
Snickers Flavored Kudos to BIGGERimagination for guessing the two references.  
There's another two references in here, also. One is spelled out, but one is a little harder.  
A Cagillion gold stars to whoever finds them.

* * *

Sara's POV

We brought Alena home from camp three weeks ago, and she's barely talked to anyone since then. I saw her cell phone bill, and she's only sent text messages to one person, and even though he's not in her inbox, I'm pretty sure it's this Caleb kid.

It's weird to think about it, but my child might be depressed. Meanwhile, I'm just the opposite. Literally. I'm bumping into things, and I'm getting the snooze button.

"Hey Sar," said Nick, strolling into the living room. "I'm worried."

"About Alena?" I asked. He nodded. "Me too. I don't think this is normal teen behavior."

"Why could this be happening? Ever since she came home from that camp, she's acting like those emu kids she used to talk about."

I laughed. "Emo, Nick. Short for emotional."

"I'd know that if that girl ever talked these days! We need to get her some help, Sara. Or else she might be one of our cases," he said, sitting down next to me on the couch.

"Don't. Don't say that. She wouldn't do that. She knows we all love her. What we need is, I don't know, some sort of intervention."

Nick helped me call some of Alena's friends, and they all said the same thing. Alena needed us to remind her how much we all loved her. We were going to slap her out of this with the hand of love.

Alena's POV

Not much to report. I think it's been a couple weeks, but it might have been longer. Caleb still hasn't been able to get his parents to let him visit Greg. It's still such a small world. Who would have thought that he could be Greg's nephew.

I think my parents are planning an intervention. I heard them talking downstairs the other day. I really don't do anything anymore, so listening to their conversations has really become what I do to pass the time.

I'm laying on my bed, looking at the ceiling. I smelled my armpits a couple minutes ago. I really should shower. I can't remember the last time I did. I pulled myself up and grabbed a towel. Walking into the bathroom, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing his sweatshirt again. I haven't washed it because it still smells like him. I took it off and folded it carefully, setting it on the bathroom counter. The rest of my clothes I striped off and threw carelessly on the floor and climb into the shower. The cold water hit me, but I can barely feel it. I don't really feel anything these days. I'm desensitized.

After getting out of the shower, I pull on some fresh clothes and his sweatshirt, and then throw my hair in a ponytail. I walk to my bed and see a small package on it. It's about the size of a grapefruit, only square. I look at the return address.

Caleb Greene  
6882 McCarthy Ave  
Sacramento, CA 95818

I ripped open the package violently. Inside, there was a Mix Tape, a real cassette tape that said 'Mix Tape' on it in fabric paint! And a small ring box. I opened it slowly and gasped.

There was a plane ticket. Las Vegas International Airport to Sacramento International Airport. Happy tears streamed down my face. I grabbed the mix tape and shoved it forcefully into my cassette player. I only keep it around to listen to Harry Potter tapes.

I collapse on the floor as I hear the sound of his voice.

"Hey Alena. It's me. Well, you probably know that already. But I made this for you. And if you got the present, then mail me back. It's more fun." I crumpled as his voice stopped, but my breath caught as I heard a song. Two Weeks in Hawaii by Hellogoodbye. But it started in the middle of a verse.

I felt so bad when your mom  
Caught us eating ice cream in your  
Room at three in the morning  
'Cause I'd hate for her  
To not want me around her daughter

I stared down at the plane ticket clutched in my hand as the song switched again, and all the air was wiped out of my lungs. I closed my eyes and imagined I was sitting on my camp bed at night, listening to him playing outside my window as I listened to his song. To our song.

We watch the season  
Pull up it's own stakes  
And catch the last weekend  
Of the last week  
Before the gold and the glimmer have been replaced  
Another sun soaked season fades away  
You have stolen my heart

I had to get to Sacramento. Now the only thing was getting my dad to let me go.


	6. Still September

**AN: **BIGGERimagination didn't guess the two references in the last chapter, so those are still up for grabs.  
There are three in this chapter, and they're all in the last POV section.

FIVE CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY!  
I'm a rockstar.

* * *

Nick's POV

"Explain to me again why it is you need to go to Sacramento?" I asked my daughter, standing in front of me in crazy neon clothes, holding her iPod. It's name is o0, but it's pronounced Jared. Randomness.

"Well, Kaylee's sister and her sister's friend go to this college where there's this indie band that's only playing in Sacramento, and we met the band at camp in Santa Cruz, and they gave us free tickets to their concert, and they're expecting us, now. So really, we _have_ to go."

"Kaylee doesn't have a sister."

"Did I say Kaylee? I mean Molly. So, she's expecting us, now. So we really have to go."

"Oh, you don't have to go anywhere. This sounds extremely fishy, young lady. How do you know all this? You haven't talked to Molly OR Kaylee for the past three weeks! Besides! Your school starts in two weeks!"

"Dad. I can pay for everything on my own. I have money for the ticket. We'd stay with Molly's sister. So everything would work out."

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hand. I couldn't deny her much longer. She would be getting out of the house.

"If you can make this work, Alena, then I will _think_ about it. But you need to write me up a schedule of where you'll be staying the entire time you're there, and what you'll be doing, and how much everything will cost."

I was shoved a few feet back by the momentum of my daughter hugging me around the midriff. "Thank you, Daddy! Thank you thank you thank you!" she ran off, still yelling 'thank you'.

All of this because I dropped her _once_ when she was a baby.

Alena's POV

OH. MY. HOLY JESUS. Dad said that I can go to Sacramento if I write up a schedule. So I'm doing that now. I also had to call Molly and Kaylee to get them to ask their parents if they can go, too. I'll need _some_ reality to my plan. And we _did_ meet an indie band from Sacramento. Maybe we'll meet up with them when we get there.

My phone rang from my bed and I snatched it up.

"Hello?" I asked distractedly, pulling up Word on my PC in my room.

"Len? Let me connect this with Molls." There was some beeping and clicking as Kaylee maneuvered around on her phone. "There."

"Alena present."

"Molly here!"

"And I'm Kaylee, I'll be your hostess this evening!"

"So? What's the verdict?" I asked tenuously. There was a pause on the other line. "Crap, guys! I need to go! Caleb paid for my fucking plane tic—"

"WE CAN GO!" they yelled simultaneously.

"Don't _ever_ do that to me again!" I yelled into my phone. "Okay, well, Molls, call your sister and see if you guys can stay there. I'll see about getting plan tickets for you two. I have enough money saved I can pay for a couple seats by the bathroom door or something."

"Len, we'll pay for our own tickets," said Kaylee.

"And I already asked my sister. We can crash there, but there's only room for us two, so you'll have to stay with Caleb. And there's a flight from Sacramento to Vegas four days from the date on your ticket, so we'll be home before school starts again!"

I screamed into my phone. "This might just work!" I heard my dad yelling up the stairs and quickly said goodbye to my friends and wrote up a schedule with shaking hands.

Sara's POV

Alena's out of her awkward funk. She's back to her normal screaming self. She's going to California again. Apparently Nick said she could go before even asking me. Great. She has school two days after she'll be getting back. But at least she'll be out of the house and with her friends.

Meanwhile, I've had to clean the entire refrigerator with Lysol because I kept smelling something disgusting from inside. And it still smells bad in here.

"Mom? Can you take me to buy a new pair of pants and some new clothes? All mine are about three inches too short. It's been a long time since I've actually worn pants."

We both looked at each other, smirks on our faces. We burst out laughing, and I looked at her.

"It's nice to have you back, Alena."

"It isn't nice to be back, Mom." I looked at her questioningly. "Not yet."

Alena's POV

We were sitting on the plane again. It was just like that time before band camp. It seems like ages ago, but really, it hasn't even been two months. I gripped Kaylee's and Molly's wrists.

"You know, my dad told me that planes _want_ to stay in the air," said Kaylee.

"Yeah. Once that 'fasten seat belt' sign goes off, we'll be in the clear," said Molly, tapping her feet anxiously. There was some turbulence, and we were forced back in our seats as the plane took off.

"Not. Going. Off," I said slowly.

"It will. It'll ding when we're fine."

"The chance of a plane actually going down are something like one in a million. Maybe even a billion."

"It's. Not. Dinging."

We sat in silence for a few seconds.

_ding_


	7. Again September

**AN:** I AM A HOTTIEEE!  
Six chapters in one day. What kind of writing steroids am I ON?

two references. a gagillion gold stars to whoever guesses them.  
as for me, i'm goign to bed. it's been a long day.

* * *

Alena's POV

I got off the plane, stumbling around in the passageway from the plane to the actual airport. What are those called again? Whatever. I looked around. Where was I supposed to meet Caleb? I had mailed him back saying to meet me at the airport when my flight got in. God damn that boy for not believing in house phones. I held down the number seven on my phone, but it was busy.

"Alena?" I whipped around, but it was only Kaylee. "Pff. You hit me with your ponytail, bitch. Anyways, I just was wondering if you saw Caleb over there in the waiting area by that other flight."

I looked over. He was pacing around, looking repeatedly out of the window. He was talking on his phone, and gesticulating madly. He looked scared and angry at the same time. I dropped my backpack and ran over to him, leaving my suitcase and two stunned friends behind.

"Alena!" he shouted. He closed his phone and walked towards me. He kissed me on the forehead, but I reached behind his neck and pulled him closer to me. When I kissed him, I let everything go, all the emotions I had been feeling for the past three weeks. All the thoughts I had that he'd abandoned me. All of my fears that I'd never see him again. We parted and he looked down at me, stunned.

"Get a room, you young whippersnappers," said an old man sitting in the waiting room, waving us off like a cloud of obnoxious bugs.

"Uh…I thought maybe your flight had gotten delayed, or something had happened!"

"You got the wrong waiting area," I said, pointing over to Kaylee and Molly. Both were giving me thumbs up signs sarcastically.

"Uh, so. Want me to drive you back to my place?" he asked, rumpling the back of his hair like my dad does when he talks to my mom.

"You can drive?" I asked, walking back over to get my suitcase and my bag.

"Well, I got my permit, but I drive anyways," he said nonchalantly, but then he turned with mock seriousness and said "Don't tell your parents."

I laughed. "My parents are so caught up with their own lives, they wouldn't even take the time to realize that I'm not staying where I said I am."

Sara's POV

"Nick, what if Alena's not staying where she said she is?" I asked nervously, twisting my hands.

"Why would she do that?" he asked. _Crap. He doesn't know about that kid._

"I don't know. What about that band she mentioned. Maybe," I gasped, "Maybe she's into hard drugs!"

"She is _not_ into hard drugs, Sara." This was hardly a comforting statement.

I paused and grasped the tablecloth in my fists. "Broccoli."

"I'm on it, hon." Nick backed out of the room and into the kitchen. "Warm or cold?" he asked.

"Cold!" I yelled, my mouth watering. Nick came into the room holding a plate of broccoli left over from last nights dinner of broccoli. I stuffed one of the crowns into my mouth.

"I love you," I said thickly through my mouthful of green.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he said sternly.

I glared at him.

"I'm just practicing my parenting phrases again. We'll have to break out the old stuff, now, won't we?" he asked as he pushed himself up from the table.

Alena's POV

"Are you alright, Lenny?" asked Caleb, leaning over me in the bathroom.

"I think I have the flu." I was leaning over the toilet, puking my guts up.

"Len?" asked Molly. "I don't think you have the flu. I think… I think you have offspring."

I replied to this with more pukeage.

"_What?_" I asked, spitting. "Pregnant? Oh god, oh god, oh god."

"Caleb. Did you…I mean, was it possible you didn't—" stuttered Molly.

"Did you glove up before you got in the ring?" asked Kaylee flatly.

Caleb stared at them then looked at me. "You _told_ them?!"

"I came into our cabin after being out all night with your sweatshirt on. What was I supposed to tell them? We were baking cookies and I got cold?"

"No. We used one," he said.

"Are you _sure_?" asked Molly.

"Well, I… I don't really remember. Everything just happened really really fast. Maybe we didn't," said Caleb. Kaylee pushed through Molly and Caleb in the small cramped bathroom. She opened the cabinet over the toilet.

"What are you doing?" asked Caleb.

"Looking for a test," she said. "Here. Found one," she said, pulling a box out of the cabinet." She ripped it open and handed it to me. It sort of looked like the thermometer we had at home. "You know how to use it?"

"I can pee on a stick, Kaylee. Now can you all get out?" I asked. "Except Caleb." I looked at him and grabbed his hand. "You can stay. If you want."

He plopped down on the side of the bathtub. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

I pulled down my pants and sat on the toilet. Peeing on that stick made me think of my parents. It made me think that until two months ago, they would _never _have thought of this. My dad still wouldn't think I'd be doing this. Mom maybe.

I'm preparing for a lifetime of house arrest once I get home, if this happens.

I waited the recommended ten seconds.

"I can't look. You look," I thrust the test into Caleb's hands. There was a minute of silence.

"Ha. Well, at least it'll be an attractive child, right?" he said uncertainly. I yanked the test out of his hands and looked at it.

"Two pink lines? Does that mean pregnant?" I asked.

He nodded. I opened the door to Kaylee and Molly. They stared at me and I nodded.

"Holy fuck balls!" said Molly.

"We'll buy you a chastity belt as a baby shower present, Len." They both walked forward and hugged me. I felt Caleb's hand on the small of my back, and I wished that I could stay here, in this moment for ever. For the rest of my life.


	8. Ditto September

**AN:**Not much to report. Except I've come up with an ending. And the rest of the middle. And I've written them on my wall so i won't forget.  
That's good though, because all my other stories were just randomness. I never had and end before.

YEEEE!

* * *

Alena's POV

I was standing in the shower at Caleb's mom's house. I still have yet to see a single adult on my trip since I've been here, unless you count Molly's sister driving away as she kicked Kaylee and Molly out of the car yesterday morning in from of Caleb's.

I put my hands by my sides and let the water hit my chest, thinking about all the events of yesterday. I still didn't know what to do about my parents.

There was a knock on the door and Caleb came in. What is it with these people and invading upon my privacy? But I didn't mind.

"I could have been naked," I called through the curtain sarcastically. He pulled it aside and stuck his face in.

"You are," he said as his climbed in and clasped his arms around me just under my collar bone.

"You aren't," I said. "I think I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here. And your studded belt is _killing_ my ass." He laughed and pulled his belt off, throwing it over the shower curtain in one swift movement.

"So I was thinking," he said.

"Good job."

"I was thinking that you should have the baby." I stopped smiling. This was exactly what I was afraid of. If Caleb wanted to keep it, I couldn't get an abortion. I wouldn't bring myself to do it if he wanted to see that bloody, goopy thing pop out from between my legs.

Since when did I become a martyr?

I twisted around in his arms so that I was facing him. " I can't. My parent's would kill me. They'd _never_ let me see you again. Ever." He paused for a minute, looking upward, as though he were calculating exactly what to say.

"Then, just don't go home. Stay here with me. We can go to New York, or… or Chicago. LA! Maybe even Santa Cruz!" he said, his excitement growing more and more obvious with the thoughts of us walking together down the streets of some bustling city, hand in hand.

I let this potion sink in for a while. I could see what he was. I could imagine me, with a big pregnant belly, walking down the street with him, and we'd go out to dinner in fancy modern restaurants, and we'd sit on the beach, laughing like we did that first day we met. There was nothing I'd like more than to be that girl. But sometimes, what you want to do isn't always the _right_ thing to do.

"I can't. I couldn't do that to my parents." I slipped down and sat on the floor of the shower, enjoying the feeling of the water pounding my back.

"I could move to Vegas," he said simply. I looked up at him, and he bent down to sit across from me.

"Your parents would never let you! _My_ parents would never let you," I said, shaking my head, but maintaining eye contact. A pained look came across his face and he raked his hair with a dripping hand.

"Alena. I have something I never told you. I should have told you, but I didn't."

"Oh god. You're a vampire!"

"No. I—,"

"You have to live forever because you drank some enchanted water?"

"No, it's—,"

"Your uncle entrusted you with the difficult task of destroying a ring with incredible powers?"

"Do you thing Greg would have a ring with incredible powers, Len?" he asked. I shook my head. "I'm legally emancipated. To the government, I don't have parents. My mom's drunk, and my dad's in jail. Which is why I can drive, and why there aren't any adults, and why I can afford plane tickets to just about anywhere."

I tried to muster an intelligent response, but all I could say was "Huh?"

He laughed and stared at the ceiling again.

"When I was fourteen, my dad went to jail. Grand larceny, Grand theft auto, assault with a deadly weapon, and murder in the first degree. I guess you'd know what those all, mean, right? In terms of years in prison."

"Practically household names. Your dad is either already on death row, or in prison for the rest of his life."

"Right. It wasn't a big deal, my dad and I were never close. But when my mom started drinking, it just intensified things. I had to take care of her. When I'd hear her coming in late at night, drunk, I'd have to help her back to her room, and make sure she slept on her sides so she wouldn't drown in her own puke."

My mouth might be open right now.

"So know, the government gives me a check every two weeks, and my mom still has to pay a settlement amount, which should last until I turn 18. Once that comes, I'm on my own."

"Holy shit, Caleb! Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked, reaching to grab his hand.

"I don't know. I guess, when I was with you, it was like it didn't happen." He looked up at me again. His expression had changed dramatically. Where two seconds ago, his eyes seemed hollow and his face was dull, his eyes were now alight with excitement, and he looked eager. "So do you want me to go with you back to Vegas?"

"Of course I do! I just don't know if that's the best option for you." I reached behind me and shut off the water. Standing up, I pulled a towel around myself. "You're soaked," I said, reaching forward and twisting a corner of his shirt out.

He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me. "You can do this. I know you can."

"Says the man who doesn't have to shove a human being forth from his crotch." I stood there for a few minutes, resting my head on his wet chest, listening to his heartbeat. I kept asking myself one question over and over again in my head, and I came up with a hundred different answers.

_Is this the heartbeat I want to listen to for the rest of my life?_

Sara's POV

She'll be back tomorrow. That's just what I keep telling myself. Why is it harder to let go of her now, for four days, than it was to let go for a whole month when she left for Santa Cruz?

It all has something to do with that Caleb kid. I have no idea who he is, but I keep getting the feeling that he's not a good influence. But then again, if Alena picked him, he has to be alright. She knows what's good for her and what isn't.

She's a good girl. She's not going to get into any trouble. She'll be fine.

But… what if she isn't fine?

Images storm my mind like flies around a dropped piece of pizza. What if she got kidnapped, or pregnant, or raped, or murdered? This was the aspect of my job I liked the least. So many different situations I would never imagine, and every single body I saw in the morgue, I saw Alena. I saw Nick. I'd even see Kaylee and Molly. Things like that could happen to anyone.

I just hoped it wasn't my daughter.

Alena's POV

I walked into Caleb's room wearing pajamas and my cow slippers, holding a bowl of Ben and Jerry's. "Hey," I said with my mouth full of phish food.

"Hey, yourself," he said, looking up from the TV as I sat next to him on the bed. "A tire just hit that woman in the face," he said, gesturing to the TV with the remote.

"Caleb. We need to talk."

"Look, they showed it again! Good god! Look at that—,"

"_Caleb_!" I said frantically. He looked up at me, and flipped of the TV, positioning himself so he was facing me better.

"What's up?"

"I've decided."

"About the baby, or about us?" he asked, tilting his head slightly towards me.

"Both," I said as he reached for my hand. "I'm staying. I'll stay here, and I can have Kaylee and Molly go back and tell my parents I'm safe, and we'll go somewhere. New York. Chicago. Maybe London, if we can afford it."

He smiled at me, and then tackled me in a hug, but the momentum caused us both to fall off the bed. There was a pound on the wall to the living room.

"Keep it clean, Caleb!" called Molly from the opposite side of the wall. "If you injure her, I'll stab you in the jaw!"

We laughed, and he helped me up. "Well, it's just like having my parents here," I said, brushing my hair back into place with my hands. "Only less violent."

"So where do you want to go?" he asked. "London sounds fine with me. So does New York. So does anywhere. As long as we're there." He bent over to my stomach and half-yelled "_All three of us_."


	9. More September

**AN: **A Thousand gold star stickers to csiFREAk24 for guessing three of the references in chater seven. I don't remeber if there's any in this chapter.

I know, I know, i haven't written in forever. But school got crazy, and finals, and whatever. But Now it's summer, and I'll have more freetime to write when I'm not working. yipee!

Sara's POV

We're waiting in the airport. Those paranoid security guards came along and told us we couldn't go to the actual gate, so we're waiting with all the Asian tourists in khaki shorts and visors. Don't they know my daughter is meeting me? They should really let me in. Greg, Lily, Nick and I are all waiting on our tip-toes, trying to see them.

"Nick! I see Kaylee!" I said, grabbing his arm tightly.

"Let go, Sara, you'll induce labor right here in the airport," he said, prying my hands from around his biceps.

"Do you think you'd get free frequent flyer miles?" asked Greg.

"There's Molly," said Lily, pointing gracefully. "She's the one with the crush on Greg." She blushed profusely. Greg mumbled something about 'bathroom' and power-walked away.

"Nick. Nick, there aren't any more people coming. Where is she, Nick?" I pounded his shoulder with my fist, my head still turned toward the arrival gate.

"Kaylee? Molly? What's going on?" asked Nick slowly and confidently. "Where's Alena?"

They both glanced at each other and then back to me and Nick. "We don't know. We honestly do not know. All we can tell you is that she is healthy, and she is safe. She's with someone who would never harm her, and never let her get harmed in a million years," said Molly, dramatically.

But it was a time for drama. It was a time for hysterics.

I tried to let this information sink in, but it was like a little kid was sitting in my head, trying to shove a red plastic triangle through the square hole. Alena isn't here? Well if she's not here, where is she? What's going on? Why wouldn't she just call.

Greg was back, peering down the arrival gate.

"Where's Alena?" he asked, innocently. Molly burst into tears and hugged him around the midsection. He looked confusedly over at Lily, who made a stroking motion in front of her, and Greg began to awkwardly pet the side of Molly's head.

"Sara? Sara, are you okay?" I think that was Nick, but I'm not quite sure. My head is spinning. I can't feel my toes. I was falling, but I didn't care. I didn't know where she was, and I would fall a thousand times if it would help me find out where she was. There were so many things I wish I could have said. I wish she'd come to my ultra sound. I wish we'd found out the gender together. She was a good kid. She'd be alright on her own.

I just wish I could have told her before she left.


	10. December

**AN:** So i had already written this during my geometry class, but I hadn't typed it. So in celebration of the first day of summer, I decided to type it up and publish it.

Much thanks to BIGGERimagination. I can't wait to see you tonight at the park! WHEEEE!

* * *

Alena's POV

I'm awake, but I don't want to move. Caleb is still asleep and his hand is resting on my stomach, which hasn't really gotten as big as I thought it would have. From our apartment in New York, you can just see the Chrysler Building.

Caleb stirred a little, and his eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey," he said groggily, which is amazingly hot on him. His hair sticks up at odd angles when he wakes up and I like to call him Christian from Project Runway, season four. He hates it. I love it.

"Hey," I replied. "I made coffee."

"You haven't left bed yet," he said, sitting up in bed.

"No, I mean, I set the coffee pot to go off around now."

"Foldgers?"

"No, I got a pound from that local shop you like down the street. Sumatra blend."

"I love you," he said smiling and leaning over to kiss my forehead. He rolled out of bed on the opposite side, the side facing the bay window. It's odd, but ever since we moved to New York, I've felt so much more grown up. Like when we went to get dinner in little Italy. Everyone we saw looked at my stomach, smiled, saw how young Caleb and I were and scowled. We went to buy car seats yesterday for the Geo. We ended up choosing a cow print one, since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet.

Speaking of which.

"Caleb?"

"Alena."

"I think I should go to a hospital to get a check up." He looked up from the piece of dark rye he was smearing with peanut butter and nutella. "Just a check up. I'm worried about the baby."

"Len, you know we can't risk that. Every city in the country is probably looking for us. With your parents being CSIs, and everything."

"But Caleb, what if there's something wrong, and I don't know about it?" I asked, a definite pleading note in my voice. Caleb sighed deeply, and pushed his fingers through his hair, which no longer stood on end. He walked toward me and grabbed my hands, staring at me, communicating with his eyes, not saying a word. I knew he was telling me to be careful, but at the same time, he seemed to be asking I this was what I really wanted? If I wanted to really take this risk.

"Okay." He said. I smiled and he grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes, which looked more stressed than usual. However old I seemed to feel, Caleb's face seemed to show it now. There were lines under his eyes from all the sleepless nights. His smiles had become less and less bright and happy. I reached up on my tip toes and kissed him lightly.

"You'll have to go to the hospital on East 68th street. By 3rd Avenue? You know the one."

"Yeah, okay. Can you call down there and make an appointment? I'll find the number, okay?" I asked. He nodded, and I walked down the hallway into the living room. I found the phone book under the loose leg of the sofa, and I called the number of the hospital on East 68th.

Caleb dialed the number on the phone in the kitchen, and tapped his fingers on the table.

"Yeah, my girlfriend is pregnant, and she needs to get a check up. Yes. No, I don't have time to take a survey. Hold on, I'll ask. Hey Len?" he called to me. "How far along are you?"

"About six months. Maybe less."

"Five to six months. Yes. I understand. Alena Sto—,"

"No!" I screamed. If my parents were looking for me, I didn't want to make it too easy for them.

I could hear the woman on the phone scream "_Is she going into labor?!_"

"Caleb, give them a different last name! They'll have amber alerts for Alena Stokes! Say something else!"

I saw him mouth _shit_ and then he returned to talking on the phone. "No, she dropped a cup of coffee. Yes, it's decaf. Her name is Alayna Stockton." I let out a long breath because I had been holding it all in. "She's 15. Nope, not kidding. We'd like to come in as soon as possible. Four o'clock today is fine. Where should we go?" I brought a pen and paper over by Caleb. He wrote down 'OB/GYN Wing, Rm. 204-A'. "Thank you so much," he said as he hung up the phone.

"I'm glad you reminded me we're on the run," he said, laughing a real laugh that made his eyes sparkle brilliant blue.

"We'll take the geo, then? Do you want to go now?" I asked. I grabbed a bag from the hook by the door, and Caleb put a pair of shoes on. Vans. Checkered and beat up.

"Okay. Let's go check up on it. But Len," he said, hesitating with his hand on the door. "If they recognize you, or… or if you say your real name, we have to leave. Fast, too. Is that okay?"

I nodded and he walked out, locking the door of the apartment behind him and then walking forward and grabbing my hand. I squeezed his fingers and he let go of mine, wrapping his arm around my waist instead.

I could imagine my mom and dad doing the same thing, and yet I knew that they would frown upon this same action.


End file.
